Mrs. Tom Thumb

This is the second book I have read by Melanie Benjamin. The first being Alice I Have Been.

Without writing another word I will say: I liked them both!

Advance praise for The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb“Benjamin handles the era of mid-nineteenth-century America like a native, telling a walloping good story about a tiny person with the soul of a giant. The lovely Lavinia Bump once again comes alive, and we’re all the richer because of it.”—Ellen Bryson,

“Vinnie Bump is one of the most engaging characters to come along in a while. Nineteenth-century women had few options; Vinnie had fewer yet. ..Johanna Moran,

“Lavinia Warren was only thirty-two inches tall, but in Melanie Benjamin’s The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb she soars above the tumult of Gilded Age America. Benjamin makes her a woman of courage and refinement with an itch for adventure and ambitions that far outstrip her size. I enjoyed every minute I spent with Vinnie in this exuberant, absorbing, elegantly written novel.”—Carol Wallace,

“By turns heart-rending and thrilling, this big-hearted book recounts a fictionalized life of this most extraordinary of women in prose that is lush and details that are meticulously researched. I loved this book.”—Sara Gruen,

“Melanie Benjamin’s striking novel about the diminutive Lavinia Warren Bump, one of P. T. Barnum’s ‘oddities,’ shows that love and desire, strength and ambition, come in all sizes. Mrs. Tom Thumb brings out the humanity in all of us.”—Sandra Dallas,

“Melanie Benjamin has created a compelling heroine, whose dramatic and poignant story will capture the reader’s heart to the last page.”—Stephanie Cowell,

As I mentioned above, this is the 2nd book of Melanie Benjamin’s that I have read. She has a style of writing that is so easy to read that it’s hard to put her book down for very long.

Although this is a fictional account of Lavinia’s life you feel you are reading an action Biography of her. I would not have thought that such a book would be all that interesting ..but I was wrong. I really enjoyed this book every bit as much as “Alice I Have Been”. Both, fictional tales of women of interest. Melanie Benjamin has done an excellent job of both.

I do have to say though.. I wish there had been more about a minor character in the book: Sylvia the Giantess. She was in the first part of the book but once Vinnie had parted with Sylvia she was only mentioned once towards the end. I may have to see if I can find anything else that might tell me more of Sylvia, the Giantess.

All things said.. this is a very enjoyable and easy read. I hope Melanie Benjamin does more such books at the two I have already read!